Emerging from a Cryogenic Crust – Atari rises!
For all those who don’t know Atari, it was they who brought us the first computer game – “Pong”. Indeed, Pong is appalling by today’s standard calculators (and I mean calculators, not computers), but never-the-less, the idea of two large blocks, one of them controlled by you, hitting a ball across the TV screen, was an outright revolution in its day!
The company’s products, such as “Pong” and the Atari 2600, helped define the computer entertainment industry from the 1970s to the mid-1980s.
Atari also graduated to personal computers. One of the key features of these home PCs was that they did music really well. The software “Notator” was beyond most music software available at the time.
I originally came across both when I made my first album. I got to use the computer and the software in the music shop to record a piano track using MIDI – and I was in awe of it. I bought my first Atari when doing a studio session in a Singapore and for the grand price of $500 to the studio owner, I flew back home carting it and a keyboard behind me. I had previously used a PC for music but the Atari proved more stable and never crashed like the wretched MC-505 PC.
I was also delighted when I came across other musician friends who were also using Atari computers for music!
Atari in a studio
Unfortunately, the company which produced “Notator”, E-Magic, was bough out by Apple a number of years ago and now you have Garage Band and Logic Audio, both which use technology first released in E-magic Logic.
Back to the present day, Atari kind of lost their way a little as five years ago, they stopped developing and started to focus on publishing and distribution.
“(Atari) got bought by this retail distribution company that focused primarily on building non-Atari brands and distributing third-party titles. The Atari name was then being used as a corporate name on a retail distribution company. That didn’t make any sense to me.”
- Atari CEO, Jim Wilson
The new goal was to take Atari back to its gaming roots and to embrace the social and mobile change in the gaming landscape. Wilson recognized that there were new business models in gaming and the time was right for the company to take advantage of them.
“We’re looking at different ways to reinterpret or reinvent our classic franchises in ways that people are playing games today in the business model that people are playing today.”
Atari released “Atari’s Greatest Hits” for the iOS in spring, 2011 and it received an astounding 3.5 million downloads from the Apple App Store. The game features classic arcade games such as “Centipede”, “Lunar Lander” and “Missile Command” as well as games from the Atari 2600 home console such as “Adventure,” “Haunted House” and “Yars’ Revenge.”
It’s just released the app for the android market, further expanding the market place for Atari.
“The great thing about Atari and its very brand is that it is recognizable,” Wilson said. “You understand what it is, and frankly, in the App Store or the Android Marketplace, discoverability is a big issue for people who are releasing their games. One of the benefits for Atari is that it creates instant recognition and discoverability in the App Store and the Android Marketplace.”
About Atari (ATA) – Atari is a public trading company with a stock price currently in the EUR 1.70 – 2.00 range and it’s listed on the Paris Stock Exchange (EPA). I invite you to keep your eye on it, do your due diligence and once again, check our disclaimer.
